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Animental
Animental, Earth Ape Large Elemental (Earth, Extraplanar) Hit Dice: 4d8+11 (29 hp) Initiative: +1 Speed: 30 ft., climb 30 ft. Armor Class: 16 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +6 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 15 BAB/Grapple: +3/+14 Attack: Claws +9 melee (1d6+7) Full Attack: 2 claws +9 melee (1d6+7) and bite +4 melee (1d6+3) Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft. Special Attacks: – Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., earth glide, earth mastery, elemental traits, low-light vision, scent Saves: Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +2 Abilities: Str 25, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7 Skills: Climb +16, Listen +6, Spot +6 Feats: Alertness, Toughness Environment: Elemental Plane of Earth Organization: Solitary or company (2-5) Challenge Rating: 3 Treasure: None Alignment: Usually neutral Advancement: 5-8 HD (Large) Level Adjustment: – This strange creature has the shape of a common arboreal ape, and it even moves and acts like one, but it seems to be made entirely of earth and stone. Normally, the Inner Planes shape the Prime Material plane, combining to provide the matter and energy required for creation. However, sometimes it works the other way around: for reasons unknown, dying creatures of the Prime Material leave behind them a residue of their life energy which somehow passes onto the Elemental Planes. This life force becomes a new elemental being that takes on many traits of its original form, but has no memory of its past life. These so-called “animentals” are usually formed of animals and magical beasts, and only occasionally of aberrations, humanoids, and other creature types. Animentals speak the language of their respective planes – usually Auran, Aquan, Ignan, or Terran, but sometimes other languages, such as Ashen on the Quasiplane of Ash. COMBAT The sample animental above uses an ape as the base creature. Earth Glide (Ex): An earth ape can glide through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. Its burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other signs of its presence. A move earth spell cast on an area containing a burrowing earth ape flings the creature back 30 feet, stunning it for 1 round unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save. Earth Mastery (Ex): An earth ape gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls if both it and its foe are touching the ground. If an opponent is airborne or waterborne, the ape takes a -4 penalty on attack and damage rolls. These modifiers are not included in the stat block above. Elemental Traits: Immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, and stunning; not subject to critical hits or flanking. Skills: Earth apes have a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. -------- CREATING AN ANIMENTAL “Animental” is an inherited template that can be added to any corporeal living creature that is not of the elemental or outsider type, hereafter referred to as the base creature. There are 16 different animental “sub-templates” depending on the plane on which the animental is formed. An animental has all of the statistics, abilities, qualities, racial traits, and possessions of the base creature except as noted below. Type: Creature type changes to elemental. Base attack bonus, skill points, and saving throws are recalculated. The animental gains the extraplanar subtype when not on its home plane (which is usually one of the Inner Planes), and also one or more of the following subtypes: air, cold, earth, fire, negative, positive, and/or water. The exact subtype varies by plane; see table below. Hit Dice: Change all current and future racial Hit Dice to d8. Speed: Some animentals gain additional movement modes; see table below. A multiplier in the table (x ½ or x2) indicates that the speed of the new movement mode is a portion (or a multiple) of the base creature’s land speed. No multiplier means the speed of the new movement mode is equal to the land speed. If the base creature has a natural flight speed (using wings) and its animental sub-template is earth, ice, magma, mineral, ooze, salt, or water, its natural flight speed is halved and the maneuverability rating is reduced by one degree. Armor Class: Some animentals gain an increase in their natural armor bonus to AC; see table below. Base Attack Bonus: An animental’s base attack bonus is equal to ¾ its Hit Dice. Special Attacks: An animental retains all the special attacks of the base creature and might gain additional attacks as specified in the table below. Special Qualities: An animental retains all the special qualities of the base creature and might gain additional qualities as specified in the table below. Additionally, all animentals gain the following special qualities: - Damage Reduction (Su): none (HD 1-5), DR 5/– (HD 6-11), or DR 10/– (HD 12+) - Darkvision (Ex): Range 60 ft. - Elemental Traits: Immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, critical hits, and flanking Saving Throws: An animental with the air or fire subtype has base saving throws as follows: bad Fortitude and Will (equal to 1/3 Hit Dice), and good Reflex (equal to ½ Hit Dice +2). An animental with the earth or water subtype has base saving throws as follows: bad Reflex and Will (equal to 1/3 Hit Dice), and good Fortitude (equal to ½ Hit Dice +2). An animental that has two contradicting subtypes (either air and water or fire and earth) can choose to assign either the Fortitude or the Reflex save as his good save progression (HD x ½ +2). The other two save progressions are bad (HD x 1/3) Abilities: Modify from the base creature as specified in the table below. Skills: An animental has an amount of skill points equal to (3 + Hit Dice) x (2 + Intelligence modifier). Feats: An animental that no longer satisfies a requirement for an existing feat can choose a different feat instead. Environment: One of the Inner Planes, either an elemental, paraelemental, or quasielemental plane, depending on the particular sub-template. Organization: As the base creature, but the maximum number should be reduced to 8. Challenge Rating: As base creature +1 (HD 1-4), as base creature +2 (HD 5-10), or as base creature +3 (HD 11+). Treasure: None Alignment: Usually neutral. Level Adjustment: +3 -------- Quasi-Table: Animentals by Element True: AIR ANIMENTAL: fly speed x2 (perfect), air mastery, Dex +4 EARTH ANIMENTAL: +3 natural AC, earth glide, earth mastery, Str +4, Dex -2 FIRE ANIMENTAL: burn, immunity to fire, vulnerability to cold, Dex +2 WATER ANIMENTAL: swim speed x1, water mastery, Con +4 Para: ICE ANIMENTAL: chill, immunity, vulnerability, Dex +2 MAGMA ANIMENTAL: swim speed x ½, +2 natural AC, burn, immunity to fire, vulnerability to cold, Str +2 OOZE ANIMENTAL: swim speed x ½, acid, immunity to acid, Con +2, SMOKE ANIMENTAL: fly speed x1 (perfect), choke, immunity to fire, vulnerability to cold, Dex +2 Quasi Yin: ASH ANIMENTAL: drain, immunity to cold, vulnerability to fire, Dex +2 DUST ANIMENTAL: burrow x ½, grit, Str +2 SALT ANIMENTAL: drain, Con +2 VACUUM ANIMENTAL: fly x1 (perfect), void, Dex +2 Quasi Yang: LIGHTNING ANIMENTAL: fly x1 (perfect), fast healing 2, immunity to electricity, Dex +2 MINERAL ANIMENTAL: burrow x ½, +2 natural AC, fast healing 2, immunity to acid, vulnerability to sonic RADIANCE ANIMENTAL: fast healing 2, immunity to fire, vulnerability to cold, Dex +2 STEAM ANIMENTAL: fast healing 2, immunity to fire, Con +2 Ability Descriptions: - Burn (Ex): A fire or magma animental’s natural attack deals normal damage plus fire damage from the animental’s flaming body (1d4 for Small, 1d6 for Medium, 1d8 for Large, etc.) Those hit by a fire animental‘s natural attack also must succeed on a Reflex save or catch on fire. The flame burns for 1d4 rounds. A burning creature can take a move action to put out the flame. The save DC is 10 + ½ the animental’s HD + the animental’s Constitution modifier. Creatures hitting a fire or magma animental with natural weapons or unarmed attacks take fire damage as though hit by the animental’s attack, and also catch on fire unless they succeed on a Reflex save. - Chill (Ex): As burn above, except the damage dealt is cold, and the creature doesn’t catch on fire. - Acid (Ex): As burn above, except the damage dealt is acid, and the creature doesn’t catch on fire. - Drench (Ex): The water animental’s touch puts out torches, campfires, exposed lanterns, and other open flames of nonmagical origin if these are of Large size or smaller. The creature can dispel magical fire it touches as dispel magic (caster level equals animental’s HD). - Choke (Ex): A creature grappling an ash animental is unable to breathe, as the ash rises from the animental’s body and actively attempts to cut off all breathing. Regardless of the success of the grapple check, the creature must make a Constitution checks to hold its breath every round. The DC of the check is 10, and it increases by +1 for each previous success. When the creature fails one of these Constitution checks, it begins to suffocate. In the first round, it falls unconscious (0 hit points). In the following round, if the animental chooses to maintain the grapple, the creature drops to -1 hit points and is dying; in the third round, it suffocates. - Drain (Su): An ash (or salt) animental’s natural attack drains heat (or moisture) from an opponent, dealing 1d4 points of temporary Strength damage on each hit unless the target makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + ½ the animental’s HD + the animental’s Constitution modifier). - Grit (Su): As drain above, except the damage dealt is Dexterity. - Void (Ex): As drain above, except the damage dealt is 1d3 points of Constitution. - Air Mastery (Ex): Airborne creatures take a -1 penalty on attack and damage rolls against an air elemental. - Earth Mastery (Ex): An earth animental gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls if both it and its foe are touching the ground. If an opponent is airborne or waterborne, the animental takes a -4 penalty on attack and damage rolls. - Water Mastery (Ex): A water animental gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls if both it and its opponent are touching water. If the opponent or the animental is touching the ground, the animental takes a -4 penalty on attack and damage rolls. - Earth Glide (Ex): An earth animental can glide through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. Its burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other signs of its presence. A move earth spell cast on an area containing a burrowing earth animental flings the creature back 30 feet, stunning it for 1 round unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save. -------- Notes and Questions: I tried to make the elements as close as possible, power-wise. Are they? Where to nerf, where to buff? I know there are some differences, but are they big enough to warrant a CR change? I wouldn’t mind assigning different CR values to different sub-templates, but this way is more elegant. I went by the MotP reasoning – a special attack is worth more than a special quality regarding CR. I also used the standard version of CR scaling by HD… which I’m not too keen on, but I didn’t have a better idea. I gave the negative quasies a special attack that deals a small amount of ability damage on hit (with a save to negate), and the positive quasies fast healing 2. Does that compare? Is LA +3 too low? Too high? Category:Elementals